2 killed when SUV hits semi on South Side

Driver and passenger in serious condition

January 19, 2006|By Andrew L. Wang, Tribune staff reporter.

Chicago police are investigating whether the driver of a sport-utility vehicle was drunk early Wednesday when he slammed into the rear of a parked semitrailer and truck on the South Side, killing two passengers.

The accident occurred about 1:45 a.m. in the 4000 block of South Western Avenue, Police Officer Laura Kubiak said.

Juan Villareal, 28, of the 3500 block of South 54th Avenue, Cicero, and Cesar Moreno, 26, of the 900 block of South Claremont Avenue, Chicago, were killed, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The SUV was southbound on Western Avenue when the driver lost control and the vehicle struck the back of the truck, which was parked along the street, Kubiak said.

A third passenger, who had been in the back seat of the SUV, was taken in serious condition to Mt. Sinai Hospital, and the driver was in serious condition at Stroger Hospital, police said.

Kubiak said police were investigating the accident as a DUI. No charges had been filed.

In a crash Wednesday afternoon, a Chicago Fire Department battalion chief's SUV was struck en route to a West Side fire, officials said.

The SUV was heading south on Pulaski Road at 4:50 p.m. when a car heading west on West Congress Parkway struck the side of the chief's SUV, sending it into a pole, said Larry Langford, a Fire Department spokesman.

The chief's SUV had its siren and emergency lights on and had a green light as it passed through the intersection, Langford said. The car had swerved around stopped cars on Congress and ran a red light, he said.

"After the collision, the offender stopped the car, removed the license plates and ran," Langford said. He said the car was left in the intersection.

The chief was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge in good condition. In an accident Tuesday night on the Southeast Side, a motorist was killed and another injured when two cars collided on a bridge over the Calumet River, police said.

The driver who was killed was identified as Delval Desavieu, 49, according to the medical examiner's office. Records show Desavieu's address in the 14300 block of South Manistee Avenue in Burnham.

Shortly before 8 p.m., Desavieu was driving west in the 1800 block of East 130th Street when his car hit the side of a bridge, veered into the eastbound lanes and hit another car, police said.

The driver of the other car was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in stable condition, police said.

On the South Side, two Chicago police officers were injured when their squad car hit a tree and caromed into Alpha Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 6701 S. Emerald Ave., at about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday while the officers were pursuing a motorist for a traffic violation, police said. The officers were cut off by another vehicle. They were in stable condition at Christ Medical Center Wednesday.